The Dogs and The Trees
by BeingLolaStar
Summary: Poor Daryl finds himself in an awkward situation when two of their dogs go missing. Carl's got some questions about just what exactly those dogs were doing and Daryl's not sure how to answer him. One-shot,  no pairings, minor swearing and mild sex talk.


The farm had three dogs on it. Two bulky black labs for hunting and a sweet little collie named Babe that was supposed to stay in the barn but ended up sneaking into the house most nights. Carl loved that dog. The labs, Trigger and Target weren't as friendly but Babe would seek out to the boy, stick hanging from her mouth and tail whipping back and forth, wanting to play fetch.

She would usually sneak into Carl's room in the morning, pushing the door open and snuffling at the hand he left hanging over the side. The first morning he had screamed, terrified that somehow a walker had gotten into the house while he slept. All the adults had come running, only to find Carl laughing as the dog licked away his tears.

They'd been at the farm for just a few weeks. Earl Jenkins and his sons, Martin and James, were more than willing to take in the strangers. It was a small family. Martin's girlfriend hadn't made it and James and his wife Sarah had an infant and a three year old. Adults with weapons were a welcome addition. Carl wasn't too pleased that Carson was so little but still the younger boy made a good playmate for a little while.

He knew how happy his mum and dad were to be settled somewhere for the winter. After leaving Hershel's farm there had been quite a few days of sleeping in the cars on the side of the interstate. Carl wanted to protect his mom. She was tired a lot now. It was the baby, Carol had told him. The baby and the stress.

"Babe!" He called. "Here girl!" The dog hadn't been in his room that morning. He hadn't seen her all day in fact.

"So the little bitch is missin' too?" Daryl grumbled as he came around the side of the bar. His crossbow was slung over one shoulder and he had Target on a chain attached to his hip. In his hands was the second dog chain. "Damn it! James is waiting in the truck. We was gonna take the dogs out but we can't find Trig."

Carl sniffled worriedly. "You don't think something's happened to them do you?"

Daryl shot a wary glance at the kid. "Nah, they're jus' proll'y gettin' into somethin'. Come on. We'll go find 'em."

Carl wasn't sure what to do. Daryl had been with them for almost four months now but he still made him a little uncomfortable. He was just plain rough sometimes and still prone to shouting outbursts when he lost his temper. Finally he decided that it was probably safe to go with Daryl so long as they didn't venture far from the house.

They checked all the dogs' usual hiding places: the barn, under the porch, the little creek where the ducks liked to waddle down to when they got out. Still there was no sign of them.

Twenty minutes passed and James had finally come to see what was going on.

"Still can't find Trigger." Daryl explained. "And Babe's gone too."

"I hope nothing's happened to them. You don't think that they might be on the sun porch with Andrea do you? She's been making turkey for tonight. Sometimes she gives them scraps."

"Could be." Daryl shrugged.

"Alright, you and the kid keep checking out here. I'll take Target with me and go see if they're with her."

Daryl passed over the other dog and walked away, leaving Carl to chase after him to keep from getting left behind. They were walking along the edge of the forest calling and whistling for the dogs and were just about to give up and go see if James had found them when they heard the dogs yelping and growling. Both broke out in a run heading toward the sound Daryl pulling out his crossbow as they moved.

Carl nearly ran into Daryl's back when the man stopped dead and the weapon he was carrying fell to his side. "Well I'll be."

Trigger and Babe were not being attacked by walkers. It's seemed to Carl that they were fighting each other. Trigger kept trying to jump on Babe's back and Babe would yelp and run the other direction.

"Get him, Daryl." Carl shouted. "He's hurting her."

Daryl chuckled. "Nah, they're just havin' fun. Least someone 'round here's gettin' some. Trigger!" He called the dog. "Get yer ass over here."

"Getting some what?" Carl was confused. Trigger jumped on Babe again, balancing on his hind legs. He hopped around for a moment before Babe got free and dropped on all fours whining.

Daryl's eyes went wide and he suddenly looked trapped. "Aw shit."

"Mom says not to swear around me."

"Didn't bother you before."

"What are you talking about? What's he getting?"

The hunter turned back to the dogs and started calling Trigger frantically. "Look at what choo got me into, stupid dog. Get over here."

"What's he getting, Daryl?" Carl repeated. His curiosity was growing now.

"Look kid." Daryl turned and snarled at him. "I ain't havin' this talk with you. That sure as hell ain't my place."

The boy stopped stunned.

Daryl huffed and jumped as Trigger ran past him missing the dog by an inch. "Fuck! Stupid fuckin' mutt." Babe walked up beside Daryl and sniffed at his hair before licking his ear. "Goddamn dogs."

Trigger tried to sneak up on Babe as the other dog was distracted by Daryl. Sensing his chance, Daryl snagged the lab by the collar and pinned him down. Carl watched the whole seen play out with even more confusion now than before.

"Get over here and grab her, 'fore they start again." Daryl growled.

Worried Carl ran over and took Babe's collar. She struggled towards Trigger, whining again and Carl had a hard time holding her back. Daryl reached down and undid his belt. He slid it from his belt loops and held it out to the kid. "Here. Put that on her."

It took him a little bit of struggling with the dog before he attached the belt to her collar but he managed. Daryl stood back a ways away, holding Trigger's chain tightly. When Carl stood back up the man grimaced and muttered, "Come on." Yanking Trigger's chain and walking off toward the house.

Not sure if the command was for him or the dog and also not wanting to be left behind, Carl followed, holding Babe at a safe distance away from Daryl. They were half way across the field when he had finally worked up enough courage to ask again. "So what was Trigger getting?"

Daryl stopped and spun wide to face the boy. Rubbing his free hand over his face he glared. "Look they was jus' playin'. Don't go askin' me no more questions about it."

Carl squinted, pondering what Daryl had said, "Are you lying to me? Because I'm old enough to know when people are lying to me."

Daryl groaned and turned away, smashing his feet into the ground. "I _ain't _the person to be havin' this talk with you. Everyone's gonna think I'm some kinda kid fiddler."

"What's a kid fiddler?" Carl piped up.

"Damn it!" Daryl huffed. "Clearly you don't know when to keep yer trap shut."

"If you'd just tell me…"

"They're makin' puppies, genius!" Daryl blurted before he could stop himself.

The boy froze for a moment before his entire face scrunched up. "EW!"

"Yeah, yer tellin' me."

"So that's where puppies come from."

"That's where puppies come from." Daryl nodded, rolling his eyes.

Carl was starting to put it together slowly. He was a smart boy and it didn't take him long to work things out. "So that's why boys and girls have different parts?"

"Not answerin' that."

"Is it like that for people." He questioned.

"Not answering that either."

"Do people make those sounds too?"

Daryl looked at the boy and burst out laughing. "Sometimes." He finally answered through peals of laughter.

"Oh…"

"Look kid, if you wanna know any more than that you gotta go ask yer dad. Yer mum would proll'y hide me for what I told you already. Understand?"

Carl nodded and they both walked in silence across the rest of the yard. They were just going up the front stairs when the boy turned to Daryl with one final question. "Is that what my mum and dad did?"

Daryl went very red in the face and yanked Trigger's chain hard, dragging the dog behind him as he stormed away.


End file.
